Mason Bates joins the PSO for his symphonic/electronica work "Liquid Interface"

There are plenty of music fans who are still skeptical as to whether a DJ is a musician at all. But composer Mason Bates, a.k.a. DJ Masonic, has figured out how to combine live electronica and his orchestral works, a combination he's taken to both concert halls and clubs around the world.

On Wed., Feb. 17, Bates stops by WYEP's intimate Community Broadcast Center for an event called SoundByte, where he'll DJ along with guests Kerem Gokem and Anthony Fugate. It's just a "bite" of what Bates will be doing in Pittsburgh that weekend: joining the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for two performances of his symphonic/electronic work, "Liquid Interface."

The program, called An American Voyage, will be conducted by Leonard Slatkin (who originally commissioned "Liquid Interface" for the National Symphony), and also features works by George Gershwin, Richard Danielpour and Leonard Bernstein.

"Liquid Interface" is a conceptual water-themed "climate narrative," Bates writes on his Web site, starting with a section called "Glaciers Calving." (Reading his full description, it's not surprising to learn Bates has degrees in composition and English literature.) "As the temperature creeps up in each movement, so does the tension, climaxing in an electronically-processed flood whipped up by frenetic, New Orleans-inspired swing."